Demiourgos (39 page)

Rose closed her eyes and allowed herself to relax further, attempting to drive the thoughts of potential betrayal out of her mind. Her legs were crossed and she rested her palms on her knees. It took her back to the harem and the long nights of watching her candle diminish down to nothing. She shook her thoughts free again trying to make herself focus on nothing and form a void in her mind. Emotionless and endless calm and blackness, that’s what she wanted to feel instead of thinking. She worked hard to clear her mind and smooth her thoughts out. She barely knew Leonidus but the sting of betrayal was there as thoughts of him drifted across her mind. It took some time for her to wrest control back but soon she found the peace she sought through magic. Memories came back to her in a slow trickle. The Spellrage was chief among them due to the fact that as she focused she began to remember more. She had felt a feeling of immense power and the seductive pull of having that much might at your fingertips. Rose had also felt the madness associated with it gnawing at the recesses of her magic-plagued brain. No one was meant to touch that sort of power unless they were a god; she had no idea how she knew this.

Formulas and spells passed through her consciousness over and over as she ran through the various ways she had used magic in the short time she had been given access to it. As if by instinct her mind began to mesh spells together and morph the results based on the streams of flowing information. New uses for the raw energy at her command came as easily as breathing. Her first reaction was astonishment; it shook her out of her meditations and she was surprised to see that the orbs floating in the skies above them had dimmed down to twilight. She had lost herself in the seductive pull of magic yet again. She felt a real fear then as she stood up rather stiffly and stretched.

It was almost second nature to run herself through several poses and positions designed to work her muscles and warm her up for a performance. A thought occurred to her and she drew her sword and began using it as ballast she swept it through several of the stances and found that they complimented the long-reaching blade quite well.

Leaning against the mast Liostro watched Rose silently; mesmerized by what seemed like some sort of sword dance she was moving herself through. It was like watching a skilled combatant and a dancer all at the same time. Her slender form highlighted by the dwindling light made for the perfect memory he would choose to hold on to. She looked so refined but so primal all at the same time. He turned from her for a moment and headed up to the quarterdeck where Nina and Avreel were also watching from the rail.

“Is there anything that gods-blasted naarabi can’t do?” Avreel said in feigned annoyance along with a very unladylike snort. “It’s no wonder you fawn over her like dog in heat.”

“Charming,” Liostro replied to her with a slight chuckle. “Nina can I borrow your blades?”

“Sure.” She unsheathed her two short weapons and handed them over to Liostro curiously. “What are you going to do?”

His feet hit the stairs and he cast a grin over his shoulder at the two of them. “Invent a new style of swordplay.”

Approaching Rose in silence took some skill and even then when he got close enough he did well to cross the two swords over his head to catch her long blade in an overhead down swing that was almost too fast for even him to stop. “You’re getting better at this.”

“Oh my gods I’m so sorry! I didn’t do that on purpose.” Rose withdrew the blade and let it hang at her side; she had reacted on pure instinct to the presence she had felt behind her. Looking down at the dark metal of the sword in her hand she was surprised at herself. “I just acted without thinking.”

“Instinct plays a big part in swordplay sometimes. You did well, trust me; I am usually a very good sneak.” Liostro flourished the two short blades he had borrowed from Nina and indicated Rose with one outstretched metal appendage. “Show me what you were doing again, it seems to compliment you more than the crude lessons Barius was giving you.”

“I was just exercising and the sword added weight.” Rose said with a relaxed shrug. “It just seemed the right thing to do; I used to exercise like this before dancing for the pasha’s guests.”

Liostro arched a brow then nodded to her. “Then we shall deem it sword-dancing.”

Rose complied with his request and began from the top; letting her sword rest behind her as she crouched down. Once he was ready she reversed her grip on the hilt and brought the sword up in a crossways strike simultaneously jumping up from the deck and following through with a pirouette that ended with the blade once again pointing toward the sky. Her body continued through the familiar moves as she turned in a grand circle gesturing with her arms the blade cut across his midsection even as he barely hopped back out of the way. Once again she jumped up from the planks and brought the sword down with her. The sound of it scraping off of one of Nina’s blades grated her ears and the sparks that flew lit up the dim night for a moment. She continued the same move three times then on the last one she dipped down low unexpectedly and swept the long black instrument for Liostro’s legs. While simultaneously lifting herself back up using mainly her legs she brought the sword back across to strike in a reversed direction. She caught him off guard surprisingly and pressed the attack by using her free hand to draw some of his attention. She swept it outward then back in while her sword made the direct opposite move. Her strike resounded off of the steel loudly again and she brought her leg in front of her then down again to aid her in spinning around for a powerful attack.

Her blade only cut empty air and with just inches to spare she sucked in a breath to avoid the sweep of his blade. While she was distracted from that he broke off from her into a run which she obligingly pursued. Her surprise was genuine when he bounded off the rail and flew over her head as if he wasn’t wearing the heavy armor. She was overbalanced and fell to one knee and she knew she was defeated but at the last moment she felt something deep inside of her stir and suddenly she was facing him with her blade above her head just in time to stop the incoming slice. Taking his confusion as an advantage she leapt up and slashed outwardly with her blade missing him but causing him to take a few steps backward.

His backpedaling caused him to lose space and she reversed the direction of her dance and brought her entire body downward using it to pour a good amount of strength into the hit. When he blocked it she continued downward and stood on her hands. One hand was open and the other was closed around the hilt of her blade. Rose wrapped her legs around his neck and flung him over her back and without thinking she carried the motion over and did a full somersault. She landed on her feet easily and found the blade of her sword positioned near his throat. There was surprised plastered across both of their faces until she moved the blade and gave him a hand up.

“Never have I been bested in battle; and that is not bluster.” Liostro grinned ear to ear and looked up at the two women staring in stunned silence from the quarterdeck rail. “Never once!”

“Impossibly talented wench.” Avreel mumbled.

Nina couldn’t help but laugh but at the same time she was in awe. She remembered how easily Liostro had dispatched her and even Barius. He had defeated the two demons almost single handedly and again when the infernis elf patrol had attempted to return them to the first house. To see him so easily dispatched was no mean feat. “Incredible!”

“It was luck that’s all.” Rose shook her head and sheathed her sword and followed Liostro as he walked back toward them. “Who would think that all those years dancing and training would come in handy?”

“Fate at work I guess but how did you turn so quickly to meet my blade coming down for you?” Liostro queried curiously.

Rose shrugged, not knowing the answer herself. “It all happened so fast; honestly I have no explanation.”

“Undeniably what Leonidus told me was true.” Liostro let slip without thinking then quickly attempted to change the subject. “We will have to explore this style of swordsmanship more.”

“What did he tell you?” Rose grasped him by the arm and spun him around to face her; she refused to let his icy blue eyes pull her in this time. She met his stony gaze unwaveringly for a long silent moment ignoring the stares she was getting from Avreel and Nina. In his eyes she saw conflict and something unspoken that she could not name. It seemed like an eternity she waited for him to say something, anything. “Liostro tell me.”

“I cannot. My mouth finds words before my head can filter them.” Liostro tried to look away from her beautiful golden glare but even he, the black betrayer, could not lie to her or keep secrets. Tossing the two weapons up to Nina he sat down on the lowest step of the stairwell and sighed. “He made me promise not to say anything.”

Nina was the first to speak from above them, her blonde hair playing with the wind idly. “With what we know how can you cling to that?”

“I get the point.” Liostro ran a hand through his long blonde hair and looked up at Rose pleadingly. “Know that I could never carry out his orders.”

Rose nodded and indicated for him to continue with one hand and did not take her eyes off of him for a moment. The silence between them was agonizing but she could not bear to break it to tell him to hurry with the information he had been hiding.

“Leonidus had a fear; one that I told him was unfounded.” Liostro started quietly now looking down at the deck. “The night before we left Leonidus came to me in secret and awoke me from my sleep. He told me that your power was greater than anything the world had ever seen; he said that your skill would be unmatched and would only grow with time. It was almost in a hysterical panic that he told me you were the chosen one in some ancient prophecy. He explained that the magic at your command is a living being. It is tapped from the remains of the dead gods from the first age and that consciousness would bend itself to suit your needs much easier than for anyone else. His fear was that you would initiate the Drakna’rasha and that you would be consumed by the magic or worse.”

“The what?” Rose did not attempt to pronounce the ancient elven word.

“Spellrage.” Avreel translated for her while simultaneously eyeing Liostro.

Seeing the recognition on Rose’s face Liostro nearly blanched. The reason Rose had been so weak and drained when they had first come together was evident now. “Please tell me your weakness when we first found you was not due to the ritual he mentioned.”

“Do not change the subject.” Rose found herself unable to escape her anger and she knew the sweat on his brow wasn’t just from their workout, it was something more. “What else did he tell you?”

For a long moment Liostro was silent and did not look up at them even when Avreel and Nina walked past him to stand by Rose. When he had gathered up the sufficient strength he looked up at her again. “He told me if you were to fall down the path of the magi of old that I would be obligated to destroy you.”

Rose was shocked to hear him say it out loud though her own fears had told her what he was going to say. It took a long time for her to stop working her jaw in shock and actually expel words but when she did they were more heated than she had intended. “How could you not tell me this? You profess your love to me yet you keep something this grave a secret from me?”

“Rose I would not have acted on his request if my life depended on it for the same reason you just mentioned.” Liostro cursed his tongue as he attempted to flounder his way out of the mess he had just created. “You must believe me; I could never harm you willingly. Please forgive my silence!”

When the others left them to their conversation and returned to the quarterdeck Rose stood there for a moment searching his eyes and wondering what to do. She was angry at him because of what he had kept from her but Leonidus had been a trusted ally at that time. There was some doubt as to his loyalty but no proof. The true complication was that of her heart. She wanted to believe him because she loved him and she wanted to trust him but she wondered now if he could be trusted. The silence between them was loud enough to make everyone uncomfortable.

“My heart grows heavy Liostro.” She finally said in a low voice. “I find myself surrounded by enemies at every corner and turn, they watch and lie in wait just hoping for a chance to spring on me. Though you used to be one of those enemies albeit briefly I embraced you with open arms as did the elves and you have given me no reason not to trust you. But promise me one thing.”

“Anything, you know that.” Liostro replied eagerly.

Rose paused for a moment searching his gaze and handsome face before continuing. “No more secrets between us.”

“I will lay my soul bare for you to peruse.” Liostro promised wholeheartedly. “I swear it here and now that I will hold no secrets.”

“Good.” She smiled for him though she did not feel it. Even though it felt good to have him promise to be forthright and honest she still had a festering trust issue that she knew no one could deny her given her past and present. It was getting harder each day to trust anyone but Liostro, Nina and even Avreel though she had known the hoofed elf for a shorter time. The last thing she needed was a reason to stop trusting any of them.

The rest of them had gone back to busying themselves while she sat on the same step Liostro had been occupying. Her list of reasons not to trust the man who had taught her magic was growing. She wondered what he could gain from hampering her if she was so important to the greater scheme of things. Movement caught the corner of her eye and she turned only to find the entrance to the captain’s quarters and below deck empty. “Did someone go down to the hold?”